Nightmare
by herethereeverywhere
Summary: A virus infects Taffyta and locks her character in an eternal sleep. It's up to her fellow racers to wake her up, but the journey into Taffyta's dreams isn't as sweet as it seems. (No pairings)
1. Prologue

**Join the Sugar Rush racers in the spirit of Halloween as the festive holiday goes awry.**

**[A note to the fans of It Takes Two: the story is on a hiatus of sorts, while I'm still working on the next chapter. It's coming along, but I need to get back in the swing of Adventure Time, now that other fandoms have become interesting to me. You can thank Tumblr for that.]**

**Disclaimer: Sugar Rush and its characters belong to Disney.**

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Prologue

Taffyta shuffled into her house, feeling especially weary after the day's gameplay. She had only been knocked off course once, but even that could not explain her sluggishness. She yawned and stretched her arms, heading through a pink archway into a yellow kitchen. She threw her white gloves on the small table before reaching into the refrigerator and grabbing some strawberry milk. She clumsily opened the cap of the new carton, causing it to roll onto the white tiled floor. She rolled her eyes, bending down to pick it up.

Taffyta found herself sinking to her knees, but instinctively grabbed for the counter to pull herself up. Forgetting the milk carton, she knocked it onto the floor, spilling its contents just behind her feet. Taffyta could not find the strength to pull herself up, hitting the floor where the milk began to puddle around her. As the liquid crept forward, Taffyta's eyes went wide with panic. She scrambled to pull herself along the tiled floor, seeing the archway to her carpeted living room just in sight and her sparkly pink cell phone on the couch.

She continued her struggle, getting halfway through the arch once she realized her legs were completely numb and that same feeling was working its way up her petite body. The strawberry racer stopped short in defeat when she couldn't even wriggle her way across the floor and her arms could not pull her stiff lower half. She reached a shaky hand out to her phone just as her vision began to go black. Her eyes felt heavier and she could no longer support her head. With no will left, Taffyta's world went black.


	2. Chapter 1

**My apologies for summary changes, but the story took an unexpected turn which I preferred to stick with.**

**Disclaimer: Crumbelina and Taffyta belong to Disney.**

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Chapter 1

Crumbelina knocked on the strawberry house's pink door, folding her arms as she waited for its occupant to answer. She knocked again, tapping her foot impatiently on the ground and rolling her eyes. Sighing, she knocked a third time, opening the door immediately after.

The lack of lights on inside the house alarmed her, but she stepped inside anyway, closing the door behind her. Her brown orbs adjusted to the dim setting quickly, but not enough to perceive the lump in the middle of her path. Crumbelina tripped, landing on her stomach with her legs on top of something. She scrambled to the edge of the couch, startled from falling on the foreign object.

The caramel-themed racer reached up to turn a single lamp on, illuminating the center of the room. Despite the corners' shadows watching her, Crumbelina crawled over to the pink lump on the floor. She rolled the pink-jacketed figure over to find a non-responsive Taffyta.

Crumbelina, albeit slightly perplexed, rolled her eyes in an annoyed fashion and shook the girl. "Get up, Taffyta. It's time to go," she said, slapping the girl lightly on the cheek. "Oh come on, the racing today was definitely not that hard on you. Wake up now or we'll be late, and I am not answering to Vanellope about this." Crumbelina shook Taffyta harder, slapping her more forcefully and eventually propping the motionless girl against the couch.

The other character tapped her chin thoughtfully, glancing over at the sleeping racer. At second glance, something seemed off about Taffyta. Then she realized the girl wasn't moving at all, not even breathing.

Crumbelina slammed the door behind her, looking back only once to make sure it shut, before hopping into her kart and taking off at high speeds. Her eyes, wide with fear and panic, tried to focus on the road while her mind raced even faster than her kart's top speeds.


	3. Chapter 2

**I also apologize in advance for spamming anyone's inbox with updates. The original intention was to publish a few chapters yesterday on Halloween, but that did not work out.**

**Disclaimer: The following characters are not owned by herethereeverywhere, as much as I'd like them to be.**

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Chapter 2

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Crumbelina's kart flew down the taffy road leading away from the strawberry patches, running into the cross-section where multiple themes clashed in a kaleidoscope of colors. The girl didn't even stop for Torvald and Sticky who were crossing the street, running over Sticky's foot. "Sorry!" She shouted back, keeping her eyes on the road. The two racers looked after her retreating figure incredulously, but she payed no mind.

At the next intersection, Crumbelina didn't notice Rancis and Gloyd who pulled out just a second too early. Gloyd swerved out of the way and into a patch of licorice, while the frazzled girl slammed into the side of Rancis's kart, crushing his ribs. Luckily the peanut butter boy regenerated right beside his kart, eyes wide. He quickly became furious, joined by an equally disgruntled Gloyd. The two marched over to Crumbelina who was just climbing out of her kart.

"What do you think you're doing, Carmello?" Rancis asked spitefully, jabbing a finger in Crumbelina's direction.

"Sorry," she mumbled, bending over with her hands on her knees.

"Got a little messed up from today's racing? Maybe a regeneration will do the trick," Gloyd smirked sinisterly, cracking his knuckles. His gaze lowered to the ground, however, as both companions shot him dirty looks.

"No, but I think Taffyta might have," Crumbelina admitted, her eyes hardened.

Rancis and Gloyd exchanged worried glances before following Crumbelina, all hopping into Gloyd's kart. Crumbelina insisted she and Rancis hang on for dear life on the back, no time to be wasted waiting for their karts to respawn.

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_Muddy, dull pink shoes pounded on the pavement with resounding echoes as their controller desperately gasped for air. A lone, unseen rock cause the formerly sparkly racer to trip, gasping, as she sunk to the ground. She clambered to her knees, not wasting time to brush the caked mud from her outfit, for she had given the attempts up long ago. Forgotten was her appearance; only running mattered now. She could not stop, no, not one more time or they'll have her blonde head above their mantle._


	4. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the following characters, only the plot.**

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Chapter 3

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The trio arrived at the strawberry house, now looking duller despite the burning yellow sun. Crumbelina hopped off Gloyd's cart first, bursting through the door with the two boys in tow. She reflexively flicked on the light switch beside the doorframe, one she had not remembered earlier. The three approached the eerily motionless body of Taffyta facing opposite them.

The used collective strength to ease Taffyta onto her couch, Crumbelina tossing a phone onto another chair to make way. She watched her acquaintance with mild interest, studying her bubbly pink fingernails, daintily hanging off the side even in her sleep.

"So, y-you just found her like...this?"  
Rancis sputtered, gesturing weakly to their friend's body.

"Yeah, I let myself in and there she was-"

"Lying on the cold hard ground," Gloyd finished with a smirk. He winced as Crumbelina elbowed him sharply in the ribs.

"No time for song jokes, Orangeboar," The posh racer ordered, supporting her chin in her hand. "We need to..."

All conversation between the his two friends faded out as Rancis closely examined Taffyta. He found it so odd and plain unnatural for her to be in such a state, without regeneration or any typical signs of lag. Perhaps her code had been...no, he wouldn't even consider the possibility, not after the incident with Vanellope. "That's it!" Rancis exclaimed, snapping his fingers. "I think we should go get- hey, guys?" Her asked hesitantly, waving a hand in front of their faces.

In the moment he had turned around, Gloyd and Crumbelina's attention shifted behind him to a glowing yellow light. They froze in horror upon seeing Taffyta's pink eyes snapped wide open, glowing a faint yellow. Rancis turned around slowly, jaw dropping and eyes going as wide as Oreo cookies as he saw it too.

"What the fudge," Crumbelina drawled out, stepping beside Rancis while Gloyd cowered behind them.

Without warning, the room became a swirling vortex, the lamp crashing onto the floor and curtains yanking at their hinges. The three held into each other (Crumbelina having one hand on her hat of course, and poor Rancis's being blown off) while the room became darker and a confusing mess of pixelated lag.

Only the howling, distorted cry of a glitching game silenced their screams and cries to each other. All their attempts to move out of the house were in vain, as the vortex pulled them closer to Taffyta, whose eyes shined an even brighter yellow now.

Gloyd barely managed to snag the doorknob, his hand clasped onto Rancis. Crumbelina held onto both of them desperately, her eyes pleading for something to stop the sudden madness. She glitched, diapering in gray pixels for one millisecond, but even that unfortunate amount of time changed her course. She clawed furiously at the carpet as the winds sucked her backwards, whipping her hair into her eyes to the point where she could no longer see her friends' mouths wide open in screams. She glitched again, vain cries distorted as a bright light absorbed her into the void.

"We need to save her," Rancis screamed into Gloyd's ear over the insanity.

"How?" He only managed to mouth back, receiving a tug on his arm in response. His eyes widened, but Rancis only shook his head and motioned for him to follow.

Time slowed to a crawl as Gloyd closed his eyes, releasing the doorknob. He relaxed his body while he felt Rancis's grip on his arm tighten, the bleak nothingness absorbing them whole.

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_Her body ached from the constant running, for she valued her life and did not break stride. She could not support the strain any longer, collapsing to the ground in a coughing fit. Her chest heaved up and down as she inhaled deeply, taking a moment to wipe the sweat from her forehead as well. What little that did, as her jacket's sleeve came back browner and dirtier than before, not that it mattered._

_In the distance, an all too familiar scream echoed from one of her fellow racers, but in fear and spite of her curiosity, she took off running once more. However, the momentary rest did not bode well for her health and her body needed a full rest badly, or as full as she could get in this land._


	5. Chapter 4

**Happy Birthday, Wreck-It Ralph! Here's an update to celebrate just that. Remember to check the tag of Tumblr for many special festivities and fanart a to celebrate our favorite characters. :)**

**Disclaimer: Wreck-It Ralph and all it's characters are owned by Disney.**

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Chapter 4

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"Mmm," a voice purred softly into the ear of a waking Crumbelina. Her eyes fluttered open, eventually matching her mouth in the shape of an O. A scream escaped her lips, resounding throughout the barren, bleak landscape.

A clawed white hand placed itself on top of her mouth, silencing her cries. Frantically, she squirmed under their grip to no avail. When she felt defeat, her eyes trailed the lean, skinny body of her captor. Ghoulishly white clothes seemed to adorn his sucked in, bony figure. The person, tall and lean, towered above Crumbelina and monstrous golden eyes watched her like headlights.  
The eyes, sunken a head equally white as the outfit, were the only outstanding feature besides a crooked, sharp yellowed smile.

"Nice of you to join us," the person hissed, their grip tightening over Crumbelina's mouth." You're just in time for the...festivities," they said, a creepy smile stretching across their face. The motioned a white hand to the land behind them, now bustling with what appeared to be broken and frozen NPC's. They moved in choppy waves like a confused sea, turning awkwardly as they shuffled about. Crumbelina watched, entranced by the utter horror of the affair.

Two distorted, blabbering NPC's grabbed her from behind just as the monstrous person released their grip, carrying her into the thick. She tried to break free of their iron grips as dismembered look-a-likes prodded at her with a gleam of curiosity in their subdued eyes. She watched on in disgust as these things incessantly blabbers in what she could only make out to be jumbled bits of code, probably about herself.

The NPC's around her began writhing on the ground, crying with stuttering howls into the bleak sky. The two who gripped her arms rushed forward, but one went limp and so Crumbelina seized the opportunity to break free and run in the direction from which the things stumbled away. She tripped on one, looking back instinctively to see a gargling mess spewing black liquid from its neck. It was one of Taffyta's fans, or so it appeared, but Crumbelina could not reflect on that now.

The crowd around her lessened, and finally she saw the one who caused the fortunate catastrophe. Standing upon a picnic table in a torn, pink dress barely reaching her knees and straps lazily slung over her shoulders, stood Vanellope Von Schweetz. A defiant gleam in her eye, she shot arrows with the skill of a true markswoman at various NPC's.

Crumbelina rushed forward, a smile tugging at her lips despite the overall predicament. "Vanellope!" She yelled as the crowd thinned out, waving her hand wildly.

Vanellope looked around confusedly, taken aback by the approaching caramel-themed racer. Despite her initial hesitance, she walked forward confidently, her held head high as she shot down another figure in the distance. "Crumbelina," she said cooly, nodding at the girl.

Crumbelina, meanwhile, watched with curiosity and awe as this Vanellope held herself like a true queen would. Kind of like in a distant memory, or so she thought. "Vanellope, I-"

"Save it. This place is compromised and he could return," she said in a hushed tone, placing a finger over Crumbelina's lips. She then slung her bow over her shoulder and grabbed the girl's wrist. "Follow me," she whispered, dragging the girl away from the scene.


End file.
